“If you want to take _____ in the festival, you must sign up by this Wednesday.”

Fill in the blank.
A. role
B. part
C. piece
D. fun

「祭りに参加するなら水曜日までに登録しないといけません。」

「参加する」の部分に空欄があります。「Take」は「取る」など色々な意味はありますが、ここは決まったペアの片方です。Dのfunは、「祭りを楽しむ」という意味だったら「take fun」ではなく「have some fun」などが適切ですのでアウトです。Aのroleは、もし祭りに劇もあるのなら納得はいくかもしれませんが、「take」よりは「play a role」のほうがいいです。BとCは意味が一緒ですが、決まったフレーズなのでBしか使えません。答えはBです。

Classroom Tip
Fly, Swim, Dive, Crawl is a great song for getting everyone moving. It is also helpful for learning about the different movements of some of the creatures found in Units 8 and 10. Using the video, dance along with Kinka. Then, using the flashcards or with the book open, point to the different creatures and fly, swim, dive or crawl like they do. Do the actions slow and fast to make it even more fun, repeating the action as you move your bodies.

At Home Tip
Fly, Swim, Dive, Crawl is a great song for moving and learning the words to the actions that different creatures do. In Happy Valley Units 8 and 10, kids learn many names for different creatures who can fly, swim, dive and crawl. Using the DVD, dance along with Kinka. Open the student book to Unit 8 or 10, showing the different creatures. Point to different ones and fly, swim, dive or crawl like they do. Do the actions slow and fast to make it even more fun, repeating the action as you move your bodies. If you have the DVD Workbook, use the FC to play, like in the Classroom Tips section. Have fun!

Dunning and Kruger did experiments showing that people with a little skill at something have more confidence in their ability than people with more skill. This is because as you learn more about something, you become more aware of the ways in which you could be better at it. Have you been trying to learn a new skill (like speaking English!) but feel like you aren’t making enough progress? You are better than you think! You just understand your faults better as you learn more about the skill.

Classroom Tip
This is an extension of the “It’s a” chant and builds upon the Unit 2 language “It’s a flower. It’s red.” It provides further examples using the colors red, yellow, green and blue. You can watch this video and do the Unit 1 Activity in class, where students color the flower the color they choose. You can also draw two flowers of each of the four colors and play a concentration/memory game to match the blue, red, yellow and green flowers using the language “It’s a flower. It’s red.”

At Home Tip
This is an extension of the “It’s a” chant and builds upon the Unit 2 language, “It’s a flower. It’s red.” It provides further examples using the colors red, yellow, green and blue. You can watch this video and draw two flowers of each of the four colors, then play a concentration/memory game to match the blue, red, yellow and green flowers using the language “It’s a flower. It’s red.” Or you can draw a flower for your child to color. As you go about your day, see if you can find different colored flowers around you, using the language in real life.